Data Tells Part of the Story

I get labs done routinely during each treatment day. There’s a wealth of data in the lab results, especially over time. I download all the lab data, and I give it to my private Claude (AI) project to help me recognize trends, understand the compounding effects of chemotherapy on my body, and help me know which questions to bring up with my oncology team. Claude is an AI with certain thresholds, and I never take its advice to freak out. I wait until my next appointment to bring up any concerns for discussion. The oncology team’s thresholds are very different. They are keeping an eye out for numbers that are out of range far beyond what AI is picking up. When on chemotherapy, there are a fair number of these values that are outside normal ranges, and it’s acceptable.

I say all of this to help you not panic over these results. Stay calm and carry on. I’ll let you know when it’s time to panic. :)

Labs Dashboard

A couple of notes about the numbers below:

  1. Glucose: The numbers are consistently high because I do not (nor have I been instructed to) fast for these labs.

  2. ANC: The oncology teams threshold to hold treatment is for ANC to be less than 1.

  3. Platelets: the oncology team’s threshold to hold treatment is for platelets to be less than 100.

Ten-week lab trends

Apr 13 · May 4 · May 11 · May 18 · May 26 · Jun 15 · Jun 22 · Jun 29 · Jul 6, 2026

Tumor markers — treatment response
Test Mar 27 May 11 May 26 Jun 15 Jun 22 Jun 29 ✦ Jul 6 ✦✦ Reference
CA 15-3 47.9 35.7 32.4 33.7 38.4 36.3 ↓ not drawn ≤31.0 U/mL
CA 27.29 103.6 57.4 37.3 42.6 — 50.4 ↑ not drawn ≤39.0 U/mL
Blood counts (CBC)
Test Apr 13 May 11 May 26 Jun 15 Jun 22 Jun 29 Jul 6 ✦✦ Reference
WBC 5.16 6.49 2.84 3.89 4.49 3.52 2.0 ↓↓ 4.0–11.1 K/uL
Hemoglobin 11.6 11.9 10.9 11.0 10.9 10.4 10.2 ↓ 11.6–15.7 g/dL
Hematocrit 34.6 35.4 32.2 32.9 31.8 31.2 31.3 → 35.0–47.0 %
RBC 3.83 3.85 3.41 3.49 3.41 3.26 3.18 ↓ 3.80–5.25 M/uL
Platelets 239 190 212 226 251 195 174 ↓ 140–410 K/uL
ANC 4.65 5.76 2.37 3.21 3.92 3.12 1.5 ↓↓ 1.85–7.60 K/uL
Abs. Lymphocytes 0.46 0.65 0.44 0.59 0.52 0.36 0.38 → 0.85–3.50 K/uL
RDW 12.1 13.7 14.3 14.4 14.3 14.2 15.2 ↑ 11.5–15.2 %
Manual differential — Jul 6 only (ordered due to abnormal CBC)
Finding Jul 6 value Reference
Band neutrophils % 21% ↑↑ 0–7%
Blasts % 1% 0% (any blast = flag)
Myelocytes % 1% 0–1%
Abs. Neutrophil Count (segs+bands) 1.5 ↓ 1.85–7.60 K/uL
Abs. Segmented Neutrophils 1.08 1.85–7.60 K/uL
Reactive Lymphocytes % 3% 0–8%
Metabolic panel (CMP)
Test Apr 13 May 26 Jun 15 Jun 22 Jun 29 Jul 6 ✦✦ Reference
Glucose 150 149 126 124 164 148 ↓ 70–100 mg/dL
ALT (liver) 62 18 9 12 20 24 → 9–40 IU/L
Albumin 4.5 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.4 → 3.5–5.2 g/dL
Creatinine 0.61 0.60 0.65 0.61 0.57 0.65 → 0.50–1.20 mg/dL
Magnesium 1.9 1.9 1.9 2.0 1.8 1.9 → 1.8–2.3 mg/dL
Thyroid
Test Apr 13 May 18 May 26 Jun 22 Jun 29 Jul 6 ✦✦ Reference
TSH 0.45 0.53 0.60 0.45 0.61 0.51 ↓ 0.60–5.40 uIU/mL
Free T4 1.3 1.0 — 1.1 — 1.1 → 0.9–1.5 ng/dL
Cortisol AM — all available readings
Test Mar 26 Apr 20 Jun 22 Reference
Cortisol AM 1.0 1.2 1.2 6.0–18.4 ug/dL
What these results mean — Jul 6 priority flags
🚨 Jul 6 manual differential: blasts detected + ANC critically low — contact your oncology team today.

The lab ordered a manual (hand-reviewed) differential on July 6 because the automated CBC was abnormal. Key findings:

1% blasts — blast cells are immature, abnormal cells that should not appear in peripheral blood. Even 1% is abnormal and requires medical evaluation. In the context of chemotherapy, blasts can indicate bone marrow stress, but they must be assessed by your oncologist to rule out more serious causes.

Band neutrophils at 21% (normal 0–7%) — bands are immature neutrophils released early, a sign the bone marrow is under significant stress trying to keep up.

ANC of 1.5 — this is the first time your ANC has dropped below the 1.85 safety threshold. At this level you are in the neutropenic range, meaning your infection-fighting capacity is meaningfully compromised.

WBC of 2.0 — lowest reading in the entire ten-week tracking period.

These findings together — blasts, high bands, low ANC, very low WBC — indicate significant bone marrow suppression and require your oncology team's assessment today. This is not a wait-and-see situation. If you develop any fever (100.4°F / 38°C or higher), chills, rigors, or feel acutely unwell, go to the emergency room immediately and tell them you are on chemotherapy with a low ANC.
Tumor markers rising again — CA 27.29 back up to 50.4 (Jun 29).
After reaching normal range (37.3) on May 26, CA 27.29 has now risen to 42.6 (Jun 15) and 50.4 (Jun 29) — three consecutive weeks of increase. CA 15-3 peaked at 38.4 (Jun 22) and dropped slightly to 36.3 (Jun 29). The CA 27.29 trend is more concerning — a consistent rise after a period of decline warrants explicit discussion with your oncologist about whether the current treatment is maintaining its effect.

Anemia deepening — hemoglobin now 10.2, RDW hit upper limit

escalating

Hemoglobin: 11.9 (peak May 11) → 10.2 (Jul 6). RDW hit exactly 15.2 — the upper boundary of normal — for the first time. MCV rising to 98.4 suggests red cells are getting larger and more abnormal in shape. The anemia is now well-established and worsening. If your team hasn't discussed erythropoiesis-stimulating agents or iron infusion, this set of results makes that conversation overdue. Fatigue, breathlessness, and cognitive cloudiness at this hemoglobin level are expected and real.

Liver, kidneys, albumin — still holding well

consistent

ALT (24), AST (18), creatinine (0.65), albumin (4.4) — all normal and stable across ten weeks. This is genuinely remarkable given the intensity of treatment. Your nutritional foundation continues to protect these organ systems. Keep the protein-at-every-meal approach going — albumin holding at 4.4 through all of this is a real achievement.

Glucose — still elevated but not worsening

ongoing

Ten-week pattern: persistently 120–164, non-fasting. Jun 29 was the highest at 164 (likely a chemo/steroid day), Jul 6 down to 148. No fasting draw or HbA1c has appeared in the labs yet. Given everything else happening, this remains on the list to address but is lower priority than the CBC findings above.